Constant Fight
by Hannah554
Summary: Voyager comes under constant attack from a vicious species, can the ship and her crew survive. JC and PT
1. Chapter 1

This is my third voyager story and the idea was inspired by a friend so let me know what you think and I hope you enjoy it.

Constant Fight

Chapter 1

The man came running out from behind a tree with his weapon aimed at Chakotay, Chakotay saw him out of the corner of his eye and turned around shooting him in the chest. He then continued to make his way through the woods; he could here the voices of his team over the communicator.

He heard the sound of gunfire up ahead of him, he turned to Ensign Tolson who was right behind him. Using hand signals the two communicated their plan and Chakotay watched as Tolson began to move off to the left to try and get behind their enemy but he only got a few steps before he was hit in the chest several times.

Chakotay then became aware of Tolson's attacker heading in his direction. He couldn't see who it was but he could tell they were coming toward him He moved a few meters away and hid behind a tree. He listened carefully to the sound of the person's footsteps waiting for them to get a little closer. When he was satisfied his attacker was close enough he quickly moved out from behind the tree and aimed his weapons at the person's chest. Just as he was about to fire he hesitated realizing who it was. Kathryn stood there with her weapon aimed at Chakotay.

"Are you going to shoot me Chakotay?" Chakotay smiled and fired, there was an explosion of red on Kathryn's chest and she fell to the ground.

As Kathryn hit the floor an alarm sounded and a voice announced that the game was over and the red team had won. Chakotay smiled and looked down to the floor where Kathryn was laid. He held out his hand to her and she accepted it. He helped her up of the floor and she laughed.

"That was fun. Remind me to congratulate Tom on his excellent idea. I have to say I never would have thought of having a paintballing tournament. Though I'm not sure using real guns and paint bullets was a good idea, they hurt a lot more than Tom let on and the entire crew now need a shower and a change of clothes"

Chakotay laughed, he looked at Kathryn and saw the multicolored paintball splats on her arms and legs that she had received before his fatal shot to the chest. He looked at his own clothes and saw the paint that covered his arms and legs.

The two of them headed toward the exit where they saw the rest of the senior staff stood talking.

"Way to go Chakotay! You killed the Captain" Tom said by his way of greeting, he was covered in various colored paintball marks. He had been on the Blue team along with the Captain had yellow paintball marks all over his chest.

"Who got you?" Chakotay asked

"B'Elanna" he stated with no shame whatsoever in having been killed by his girlfriend.

"Yeah that was right before the Captain came out of nowhere and shot me" she said laughing and pointing to two giant blue splats on her yellow jacket which indicated she had been on the yellow team. Chakotay turned to look at Tuvok and had to choke back his laughter. He was covered in various colored splats on his arms and legs like everyone else but his chest had that many blue splats on it that you couldn't even see the green jacket he was wearing underneath. He had obviously suffered an horrific death.

"What happened to you?" he said only just holding back his laughter and he could see that Kathryn and the others were having similar problems, especially Tom.

"Mr. Paris felt it was necessary to unload an entire pack of ammo into my chest" Everyone burst out laughing, no longer able to keep it in.

"We should go get cleaned up" Kathryn said through her laughter and Chakotay held out his arm to her and she linked her arm with his as they walked out into the corridor.

"I can't believe you shot me"

"Well did you expect me to let you shoot me" he said laughing.

"No I just can't believe you actually killed me" she paused for a moment, thinking "You hesitated"

"What?" Chakotay asked.

"When you came out from behind the tree and realized it was me you hesitated"

"Yeah I did didn't I"

She nodded her head "Why?"

"It was automatic. I realized I was pointing a weapon at you and I guess my mind automatically stopped me from firing"

She smiled and stopped as they reached her quarters "Well I'll have to remember that for next time"

"Next time I might not hesitate"

"Now Chakotay, could you really fire at me that easily"

"Probably not" he said laughing "I'll see you later" Kathryn turned and walked into her quarters and Chakotay headed for his. It was going to take forever to get all this paint out of his hair.


	2. Chapter 2

Thanks to tayababy and Steph for the reviews, here's chapter 2 I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review.

Chapter 2

Kathryn walked into sickbay, afteralmost an hour scrubbing her hair in the shower she had finally managed to get all the paint out. The Doctor who had also taken part in the paintball tournament had insisted that everyone report to sickbay after the match to have their various bruises fro the paintballs taken care of. He had set up a schedule so that he didn't end up with the entire crew in sickbay at the same time. As usual he was starting with the senior staff and the command team were as always first.

As she walked through the doors she saw Chakotay sitting on one of the bio beds and walked over to him.

"So how long did it take you to get all that paint out of your hair?" he asked with a smile.

"A lot longer than it took you I'll bet" She replied as she jumped up and sat next to him on the bio bed. "Where's the Doctor, surely he isn't trying to shower the paint off himself?"

"No he had to go to Ensign Salls Quarters, apparently she neglected to where her ear protection during the match and is really regretting it now"

"Well he'd better hurry because Tuvok's in here next and he's going to take forever to deal with, so he really doesn't want to fall behind schedule before then"

The two of them started laughing at the memory of the state Tuvok had been in after the match. They both looked up as they heard the sickbay doors slide open. The Doctor came in mumbling something and then looked at the command team sitting on the bed.

"Well Captain I'm glad you could join us, I was expecting to have to go looking for you and drag you down here"

"Doctor let's just get this over with"

"Okay Captain if you'd just like to come over here behind the screen I'll get on with it"

Kathryn looked up as Chakotay sat down next to her and smiled "All healed Commander?"

Chakotay returned her smile and nodded his head, Kathryn looked over to the helm where Tom was sitting "Well then Tom I believe you should head down to sickbay"

"But the Doc will take for ever to deal with Tuvok"

"All the same Mr. Paris the Doctor made a schedule for a reason and I believe we should stick to it"

Tom sighed getting up from his seat and ebtering the turbo lift"Yes ma'am"

"Captain I'm picking up a ship decloaking, it's hailing us audio only"

"Okay" Kathryn said as she stood up "This is Captain Kathryn Janeway of the federation star ship Voyager"

"We are the Tambor, you will be destroyed" The transmission cut off and she felt Chakotay move to her side.

"Well that was blunt"

"Red Alert" the command team took their seats once again. "Ready Phasers"

"Captain they're firing!"

"Evasive manoeuvres" Kathryn felt the whole ship shake as it was hit

"Direct hit, shields down to 60 percent"

"Target their weapons, fire"

"Direct hit, no effect"

"Arm torpedoes, fire"

"Direct hit, their shields are down to 85 percent, no effect on their weapons" The ship shook once again as it took another hit. Tom walked out of the turbo lift and went back to his station.

"Shields down to 20 percent"

"Tom get us out of here"

TBC


	3. Chapter 3

Thanks for all the reviews I hope you enjoy this chapter, please read and review it really helps me to keep writing

Disclaimer: I do not own stargate or any of its characters.

Chapter 3

Tom took the ship into warp as soon as the Captain had ordered him too.

"Captain they are following us"

"Tom go to warp 9 let's see if we can out run them"

"They're maintaining course and distance"

Tuvok walked out of the turbo lift and moved to his station

"They're firing again" Tom felt the familiar lurch of the ship being hit and looked at his console.

"Direct hit to our port nacelle, we're dropping out of warp"

"Transfer all non essential power to the shields; continue to fire at their weapons"

The ship shook again and then again.

"Shields are down"

"Continue to fire!" Tom could hear the desperation in both the Captain's and Chakotay's voices beginning to emerge and it worried him. The Captain and Chakotay were always very in control and even though he knew they must get scared they never really let it show.

The ship shook once again and Tom was aware of the explosions occurring at various places on the bridge "Hull breach decks 4, 5 and 6, we can't take another hit like that"

On the view screen there was a small explosion on the ship attacking them and everyone turned to Tuvok.

"There weapons are down" he said in his typically calm Vulcan voice. Their attackers cloaked and everyone watched the view screen and the sensors silently for a few minutes.

"Tom get us out of here full impulse" Captain Janeway said breaking the silence that had filled the bridge.

"Bridge to Engineering" Tom heard Chakotay say behind him.

"Torres here" came B'Elanna's voice and the sounds of a very busy engineering and various explosions could be heard in the background.

"B'Elanna what's the status of the warp engine?"

"A mess" she said "Don't touch that console!" they heard her yell to someone in engineering.

"B'Elanna, I doubt our attackers are going to be gone for long. I'd like to be a long way from here when they do return, how soon can you give me warp?"

"6 hours"

"B'Elanna I don't think we have that much time"

"I'll try and get it done sooner Captain but I can't make any promises"

"Thank you"

"Okay damage report" Kathryn asked

"We have hull breaches across several decks, warp is off line and we have 7 injured"

Looking around her bridge Kathryn visibly sighed, it was a mess. Half the consoles had exploded and there were pieces of deck plating everywhere. She also noticed that parts of the ship that should have been on her right were now oin her left and vice versa.

Four hours later Kathryn and Chakotay were sat in the ready room going through he various damage reports from the attacks.

"They really did some damage didn't they?" She said leaning her head back against the sofa they were sitting on.

"Yeah they did, are you okay" she pulled her head back up and looked him in the eyes. She could see the care and concern there and for a brief moment she could see something else there too. Something she knew they both shared but kept as hidden as possible.

"I'm okay"

"Bridge to Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay"

"Yes Tuvok" Kathryn said tapping her badge.

"We have detected another ship, it is not the Tambor but we believe they were attacked by them also"

"We're on our way" They both walked on to the bridge.

"I am detecting one life sign aboard, very week"

"Beam it to sick bay, have a security team meet me and Chakotay there" She and Chakotay made their way back down to sick bay, there were a few members of their crew still there being treated for their various injuries but none of them seemed to be critical, for which Kathryn was grateful.

"Doctor?" she asked as she made her way over to the bio bed where the alien was unconscious.

"He's suffered severe injuries but he will recover" the Doctor said.

"Can you wake him?" Chakotay asked

"Yes" the Doctor pressed a hypospray to the alien's neck and he slowly woke up. When he opened his eyes he tried to get up but between his injuries and the Doctors hand he didn't get very far.

"It's okay no one is going to hurt you, we're here to help you"

"You are not the Tambor" he stated simply.

"No we're not"

"Then we must get out of here now, they are coming"


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks for the reviews and sorry about the wait, here's the next chapter I hope you enjoy it, please read and review.

Disclaimer: I do not own voyager or any of its characters.

Chapter 4

"Then we must get out of here now, they are coming" The alien became visibly agitated "They will be coming back, if they have not destroyed us already then something has prevented it, they will be coming back and with many more ships"

"We're leaving as fast as we can, unfortunately the Tambor took out our warp drive before they left, and we're stuck at impulse until we can get it back online"

"That is not fast enough they will be here any moment"

"Unfortunately it is the best we can do"

Kathryn and Chakotay spent the next half an hour in sick bay with the alien learning everything they could. The Aliens name was Tashal, he was part of a race called the Valeem. The Tambor were a violent species who believed that they were the universes supreme species and that all others should be destroyed. That explained the warm reception and blunt statement that had received when they had first run into the Tambor that and they apparently got some sick sense of amusement out of watching other ships get blown up.

According to Tashal very few people had ever seen the Tambor themselves and even fewer survived encounters with them to talk about it. Apparently they were large dark beasts with red eyes, Kathryn really hoped that was just a figment of some ones imagination or at the very least a little bit of an exaggeration, she really didn't like the sound of running into anything like that.

After they had learnt as much as they needed or wanted to know the Doctor had insisted that his patient be allowed to rest for several hours and she and Chakotay were now on their way to the bridge.

"I really don't like the sounds of these Tambor" Chakotay said

"I know, we've run into our share of violent species but if what Tashal says it accurate then this is something else entirely"

"Let's just hope B'Elanna can get the warp drive back online so we can get out of here long before they come back"

"Bridge to Captain Janeway and Commander Chakotay" came Tuvok's voice

"Go ahead"

"I believe you and Commander Chakotay should come to the bridge immediately"

"On our way"

Kathryn and Chakotay walked onto the bridge and Kathryn went to Tuvok's station whilst Chakotay went and stood in front of his chair. "Report" Kathryn said

"We are detecting three Tambor ships on an intercept course"

Chakotay felt his stomach do summersaults, three ships, they were barely able to stand up to one and they were still carrying most of the damage from that first attack. Kathryn moved to stand beside Chakotay "How long?"

"They will be in weapons range in approximately 20 minutes"

"Why aren't they cloaked?" Chakotay asked

"Dramatic effect" Tom quipped from his position at the helm

Chakotay resisted the urge to role his eyes and turned to Kathryn "Tom's right, they probably know we can't go to warp and this way we get to watch them coming and know there's nothing we can do about it"

"Janeway to Engineering"

"Torres here"

"B'Elanna how long before you can me warp?"

"Another half an hour"

"You've got 15 minutes"

"Captain there's no way I" B'Elanna started to protest but Kathryn cut her off.

"B'Elanna we've got three Tambor ships on an intercept course, we need to be well on our way by the time they get here"

"I'll do what I can Captain"

Kathryn and Chakotay exchanged glances that said they both knew they were in trouble this time.


	5. Chapter 5

Here's chapter 5 sorry it took me so long to update I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek Voyager or any of its characters

Chapter 5

"How long do we have until those ships reach us?"

"6 minutes"

"Janeway to Engineering, B'Elanna I need warp"

"Just a few more minutes Captain"

"Captain the three ships just disappeared from sensors"

Kathryn turned to look at Chakotay before she heard Harry's worried distressed sounding voice.

"Captain a Tambor ship just decloaked right in front of us"

"Arm Torpedoes and target their weapons, Tom evasive manoeuvres"

The ship gave an all too familiar lurch as it was hit by the Tambor's weapons, she could hear Tuvok behind her continuing to fire at the Tambor ship and she could see Tom in front of her trying to keep the ship out of the way of the Tambor weapons as much as possible.

"Bridge to Engineering, B'Elanna I need the warp engines online now"

"One more minute Captain"

Kathryn could hear the sounds of explosions in engineering accompanying the ones on the bridge.

"Tuvok target their engines make sure they can't follow us" she ordered as the ship continued to lurch and shake with every hit the Tambor were able to land.

"B'Elanna!"

"Okay go ahead the warp engines should be online"

"The Tambor's engines have been disabled" Tuvok stated from behind her

"Tom get us out of here"

Tom walked into sickbay, the ship was not anywhere close to being out of danger but the immediate threat was over. He had been told to report to sickbay to help the Doctor with the numerous injuries from the attack. When he walked in he saw B'Elanna walking out.

"Are you okay?" he asked concerned

"I'm fine, some of my people were injured I was just helping to get them to sick bay" he felt a sudden wave of relief run through him and pulled her to him, holding her tightly. She held him back just as tightly and for a moment they just stood there. B'Elanna pulled back and smiled at him.

"I have to get back to work"

"Okay" he said and he watched B'Elanna walked out of sickbay before turning to help the Doc.

Chakotay walked through the corridors next to Kathryn, the ship was a mess it had taken one hell of a beating between the two battles. The two of them were filthy just from walking down to engineering to see how repairs were coming. Communications had gone down and so had the transporters. Kathryn hadn't said a word since they had left the bridge and Chakotay was starting to worry about her. Her face paled every time they walked past an injured crewman and they had seen a lot of them around on their way to engineering.

"Kathryn are you okay?"

"I'm fine Chakotay" she said but she didn't look at him her gaze was fixed on the floor as they walked into engineering and Chakotay decided to let it go for now.

"Status report" she said finally looking up at B'Elanna and Harry who had been sent down here to help after they had gotten away from the Tambor.

"The ship is a mess, communications and transporters are down and it's going to take days to get them back online"

"Do what you can, hopefully now that we're at warp we can stay ahead of the Tambor that were after us before and if we're really lucky there are none ahead of us"

TBC


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek Voyager or any of its characters

Chapter 6

"B'Elanna you've been working for almost 48 hours straight now, from what the rest of the engineering staff tell me you haven't even stopped to eat let alone sleep. Take a break"

Tom had followed B'Elanna from Engineering to transporter room two. He had gone to engineering to get her knowing that she would have to be forced to break when the ship was in this condition. He knew how Chakotay felt now, he had seen him many times over the years not just in the past couple of days trying to get the Captain to take a break. He had never realised before just how alike B'Elanna and the Captain were.

As soon as he had walked into engineering and inquired as to the location of his wife he had been hit with a barrage of concerns from the people near him. Harry had just slapped him on the back and told him to get the woman to take a break.

"Tom I have a tonne of work to do, the ship is a mess and in its current condition there's no way it will survive another attack from the Tambor"

"The rest of the engineering team has taken breaks, they can handle the repairs for a few hours whilst you eat and get some sleep. You'll be no good to anybody if you work yourself into the ground"

B'Elanna stopped what she was doing and stared at him for a moment and Tom was seriously hoping he had finally gotten through to her after following her around for 15 minutes.

"Fine" she said as she moved away from the console she was working at and gestured for someone else to take over.

Tom smiled and put his hand on her back as the two of them walked out of the room and headed for their quarters.

Chakotay was sitting at Kathryn's desk I her ready room, she sat across from him reading another damage report. The ship was very slowly getting back into shape and so far they hadn't run into anymore Tambor. That in itself was a blessing, if they ran into the Tambor again with the ship still in the state it was in they would probably be blown up from the first shot.

"Looks like Tom and the Doctor managed to take care of most of the injuries the crew sustained, there are still a few people in sickbay though" Kathryn said as she read through the report. There was emotion in her voice that she tried to hide but Chakotay always recognised when it was there. Guilt.

"Kathryn, this isn't your fault"

"Am I that easy to read?"

"Only to me"

She gave him a small smile but Chakotay could still see the emotion in her eyes and wasn't going to let her pretend it wasn't there.

"Kathryn don't do this to yourself, this is not your fault, it's no ones fault and stop pretending that you don't feel guilty right now because I can read you better than that"

Kathryn just stared at him, another emotion crossed her face which Chakotay recognised but decided to let go for now. He would deal with that one later.

"I hate seeing the ship like this and seeing my crew hurt, all because of decisions that I make" she finally relented.

"Kathryn in the last few days you have made all the right decisions, I don't think any of this could have been foreseen or avoided. You also mad the right decision when you destroyed the Caretakers array and I know that's where most of this guilt comes from, that's where it always comes from"

She nodded her head and smiled again, this time it was a genuine smile and Chakotay let the subject drop.

It had been almost four days since the last attack and Kathryn had been hoping that they had seen the last of the Tambor. As usual though her hopes were dashed as she stood on the bridge and looked at the Tambor ship that had just decloaked. At least the ship was in good enough condition to offer some kind of resistance, no where near ready for another fight but she would take what she could get.

"Tuvok, you know the drill by now" she said and was aware of Tuvok once again targeting the Tambor ship as Voyager was hit by the first shot of the fight. Tom was at his station once again trying to avoid the fire from the Tambor, Chakotay was as always stood by her side. Harry was still in engineering helping B'Elanna with the repairs and was no doubt on his way back to the bridge. Ensign Massel was currently manning his station, he was scanning the Tambor ship for any signs of a weakness.

"Captain I think I found something, there is an area of the ship where their shields are weaker" the ensign said triumphantly.

Kathryn moved around to join the young ensign at the console and could see what he was looking at. It was pretty close to their propulsion systems, not close enough or weak enough to destroy it but enough to do some serious damage.

"Send the information to Tuvok's console Tuvok target the weak spot" she said as she started to move away from the console. The ship was hit again and shook more violently this time. The last thing Kathryn was aware of was the console she and the Ensign had been working at exploding, then everything went black.

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek Voyager or any of its characters

Chapter 7

Chakotay stood motionless for a few seconds before all his senses returned full force. He ran to Kathryn's side and pulled her into his lap. The side of her face was burnt and she was unconscious. He felt for a pulse only finding a weak one. Another Ensign had hold of Ensign Masson who seemed to be in worse condition then Kathryn.

"Bridge to Sickbay, Medical emergency" he said as he tapped his com badge. He looked at the view screen to see that Tuvok was carrying out Kathryn's last order and firing at the Tambor ships weak spot.

"Commander" came the Doctors voice "I'm sorry but you'll have to bring the injured down here"

Chakotay looked at the view screen and then at Kathryn, he knew his place was on the bridge right now but it was also at her side. Tuvok seemed to sense his dilemma.

"Commander the Tambor ship is sufficiently damaged for us to be able to escape"

"Tom get us out of here" he said as he lifted Kathryn into his arms.

"The Tambor are not perusing"

"Tuvok you have the bridge I'll be in sickbay"

"Chakotay with permission I'll come with you, see if I can help out the Doc" Tom said jumping up from his station and heading toward the turbo lift. Chakotay nodded his head and Tom took Ensign Massel from the other Ensign who then went back to his station.

Chakotay sat in sickbay next to Kathryn's biobed. When he had first entered sickbay there had been a dozen members of the crew with various injuries. Tom and the Doctor had managed to heal most of them and send them back to work or to rest. They had immediately gone to work on Ensign Massel and Kathryn and had with some difficulty managed to stabilised Kathryn. Ensign Massel had died from his injuries, he had been the first casualty of the Tambor attacks. Chakotay had helped out in sickbay as much as he could after Kathryn had been stabilised and there were now only four people whose injuries required them to remain in sickbay including Kathryn.

"Commander you have been sat here for over an hour" The Doctor said gently "You need to eat and rest and you are currently in command which means you'll be needed elsewhere. I'll contact you immediately if there is any change in the Captain's condition"

Chakotay nodded his head and stood up "Thank you Doctor"

Tuvok looked at the Commander as he walked back on to the bridge, he had not had chance to see how the Captain was doing since the Tambor attack.

"The Captain is stable Tuvok" Chakotay said "Okay did we learn anything knew in the last attack aside from the weakness in their shields"

"We know that one well aimed torpedo can damage their ships enough to make them stop attacking us"

"Well then we should be able to come out of the attacks with much less damage in future"

"Yes Sir"

"Our visitor is requesting we rendezvous with a group of his ships, they are only fifteen minutes away at warp six"

"That's fine"

"Thank you for returning our man"

"It's not a problem" Chakotay said to the man on the view screen

"You seem to have had quite a run in with our enemy, the Tambor"

"Yes we did"

"Well they should not be a problem for you from now on, you have passed the worst of it. If you like we will escort you safely out of their reach, we are going in your direction anyway and the Tambor are less likely to attack larger numbers"

"We would appreciate that"

The aliens face disappeared from the view screen and Chakotay felt himself relax. The news that they were now past the worst of the Tambor and having an escort to get them to safety was more than welcome. Its affect on the bridge crew was almost tangible and the change in atmosphere was more than obvious.

"Sickbay to Commander Chakotay" came the Doctors voice followed by what sounded like something being dropped "No will you please stay where you are, lay down"

"Doctor?" Chakotay asked concerned.

"I'm sorry Commander the Captain just woke up and as usual her aversion for the biobed is rearing its ugly head"

Chakotay smiled and looked at the faces of the rest of the bridge crew as they tried to keep themselves from cheering at the news that their Captain was okay.

"Thank you Doctor I'm on my way"


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek Voyager or any of its characters

Chapter 8

"I'm fine I need to get back to work" Kathryn said, she had been arguing with the Doctor for the last five minutes and was now seriously tempted to deactivate him and make a run for it before Chakotay got there and made her stay put.

"You're not going anywhere Captain" The Doctor responded "Not for a few hours"

Kathryn was about to respond when the sickbay doors opened and Chakotay walked in, well that was her chance of escape gone.

"Commander will you please tell the Captain that she has to remain in sickbay for a few hours.

"I am not staying here" Kathryn stated simply.

Chakotay looked at her for a moment and then turned to the Doctor "How is she doing?"

"She'll be fine if she rests for a couple of hours in sickbay where I can monitor her condition"

"I don't need monitoring, I have work to do"

"The crew can survive without you for another couple of hours"

"I'm the Captain and I have a job to do"

"So do I and right now you are making that job very difficult"

"Well you're making mine difficult"

"Okay" Chakotay said finally speaking up "How about if you release her to her quarters and I will stay with her and monitor her condition"

Kathryn was about to open her mouth to object but quickly realised this was the only way she was getting out of sickbay.

"Fine as long as she rests for at least five hours"

"FIVE HOURS I D…"

"Five hours is fine Doctor" Chakotay interrupted and the Doctor nodded and walked into his office. Chakotay turned back to Kathryn who was seriously considering glaring at him.

"You expect me to sit around and do nothing for five hours"

"Yes, we've both been through hell over the last week and we both need the rest"

"But five hours"

"Stop complaining I got you out of sickbay didn't I" Chakotay said and gave her a smile which she returned.

"Fine"

"I swear you and the Doctor are like children once you get arguing"

Chakotay watched Kathryn as she stared at the floor in her quarters. He had told her everything she had missed after the console had exploded. The look on her face when he had informed her that Ensign Massel had died had been almost too much for him. He saw the same emotions on her face that he had seen a few days earlier in her ready room and realised he was going to have the same discussion with her again.

"This isn't your fault"

"I knew you were going to say that"

"And I knew you were going to blame yourself"

"How can I not? I'm the Captain and I'm responsible for every member of the crew"

"You couldn't have done things any differently and we're _both_ responsible for the crew. You're not alone Kathryn"

He once again saw the other emotion flicker through her eyes as she looked at him and this time he wasn't willing to let it go.

"You had me scared you know, when that console exploded" he said as he brushed the back of his fingers over her cheek and was surprised when she didn't pull away.

"I know" she looked at him thoughtfully and Chakotay could see all of the love and desire he felt for her reflected back from her. Then all the emotions disappeared and the Captain's mask reappeared. She pulled back just enough to be out of his reach but did not break eye contact and Chakotay let his hand drop. He held her gaze a moment longer before standing up and moving away. He knew he shouldn't push her at the moment, not after everything she had just been through, he would bring it up again later.

"I'm going to go back to the bridge, it's been five hours"

Chakotay looked back at her and briefly made eye contact, he turned and left the room without another word.

B'Elanna laid in bed wrapped up in Tom's arms. When he had come looking for her an hour ago she hadn't bothered to argue that she had work to do. He would have followed her around until she agreed to take a break and she was tired anyway. Right now she wanted nothing more than to got to sleep in Tom's arms, which was exactly what she was doing.

She had hardly spent any time with Tom over the last few weeks and she had missed him. The ship was a mess and right now a piece of dust could impact the hull and cause a hull breach. They were by no means safe at the moment but now that she was laid in Tom's arms she felt completely safe, like nothing could hurt her. Tom always had that affect on her, she had never had that before and it was one of the many things she loved about him.

"Stop thinking and go to sleep" Tom mumbled into her hair bringing a smile to her face.

"Sorry" she said looking up to see his eyes open and she stared at him a moment "I love you"

"I love you" he said with a smile "now go to sleep"

TBC


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Trek Voyager or any of its characters

Chapter 9

Kathryn continued to sit and stare at the door Chakotay had waked out fifteen minutes ago. The last few days had taken their toll on her, she had slipped up more than once and let too much show. She knew she loved Chakotay and she knew he returned the feelings but she was the Captain and love was a luxury she couldn't afford. She shook her head in an attempt to get Chakotay out of it. She needed to go to the bridge and when she got their she had to be the Captain, no traces of Kathryn or her desires.

"This is not my day" B'Elanna muttered to herself. Since she had got to engineering two hours ago she had been confronted with one problem after another and they were beginning to mount up. He biggest problem was life support had gone down on three decks and environmental controls were going crazy on five others. On top of all that there were varying problems with the relays, gel packs and just about every other system on the ship. It was going to take her weeks to get the ship running again. At least it appeared they were out of immediate danger and their Valeem escorts had been more than happy to provide them with most of the things they had needed for repairs.

"B'Elanna and the rest of the engineering team are doing an incredible job fixing the ship. They all deserve medals for how much work they've got done and I know at least half of them have been neglecting themselves to do it. Especially B'Elanna, I've seen Tom following her around the ship at least half a dozen times trying to get her to take a break" Chakotay said as he and Kathryn went over the engineering reports, it seemed to have become far more routine than ever.

"Has he been successful?" Kathryn asked with a smile.

"Half the time"

"Well remind me to order them all to take at least eight hours rest each, not at the same time though"

"Will do"

"So, life support and environmental controls have been restored on all decks and most of the other systems are back online, including replicators" Kathryn said indicating her coffee and they both smiled.

"You know I don't think we could have pulled this off without the Valeem. It's only been a week since the last attack and the ship is already up and running again. B'Elanna said it would have taken her weeks to get this far if they hadn't shown up, and that's providing we didn't get attacked again"

"How's the crew?"

"Morale is definitely better, Neelix is already planning an array of moral boosters including a party on holodeck one"

"Things are getting back to normal then"

"Looks like it" He said as he stared at her, she obviously understood where his thoughts were going and decided to head them off at the pass.

"Chakotay…"

"Don't Kathryn" He said cutting off whatever she was about to say and surprising her with the emotion and determination in his voice "I love you. You nearly died a week ago and if you had I would have regretted never telling you that for the rest of my life. I understand you're the Captain and you have responsibilities but you're also human. I know you love me too, I see it all over your face. Do you think people wouldn't respect you anymore if you were in a relationship because if you do you're wrong. The entire crew knows how we both feel, you can see it written all over their faces. They would be overjoyed if you finally dropped this damn Captains mask that you hide behind and let Kathryn show. They don't want a robot for a Captain they want a person, a friend"

Kathryn just stared at Chakotay for a moment. His powerful speech had shocked her, she had never realised just how deep his feelings went or how determined he was. Her mind was trying to process the whole speech and the words 'I love you' kept spinning around in her head. She shouldn't be this shocked she already knew he loved her but he had never said it aloud before. Maybe he was right, she too knew the crew knew about her feelings for Chakotay, she could see it too. Maybe the crew would be happy for them and of course they would still respect her. As she worked her way through his speech, analysing every word she felt her Captains mask fall away a little bit at a time.

Chakotay stood up and turned to leave and she realised she had been quite to long. She quickly stood up and walked around to him.

"Chakotay wait" she said as she grabbed his arm and he turned around to face her. She realised her decision had already been made "I do love you and I'm sorry I kept you at arms length and…"

Her apology was cut short as Chakotay kissed her passionately, she felt herself being drawn deeper and deeper into the kiss. His arms went around her waist and hers around his neck and they pulled each other as close as they could. They finally broke apart for air but did not move away from each other. Kathryn smiled at him, things were definitely going to change now. There was no Captains mask to hide behind and her feelings were now out in the open. She knew Chakotay wouldn't let things go back to the way they were and she didn't want them to, after that there was no way she could go more than a couple of hours without kissing him again. Chakotay held her tightly and she had never felt more safe or happy.

END


End file.
